Returning
by Moeyjo
Summary: AU.Inuyasha is ready to give up after the death of the only girl he ever loved. But maybe she's not quite as dead as he originally thought...InuKag
1. Chapter 1

Here's my first submitted attempt at something that isn't a comedy or a oneshot. I'm pretty optimistic about it, so please read and enjoy!

Disclaimer: Takahashi has everything and I have nothing.

* * *

"He's catching up to us Inuyasha!" They were running through an overgrown field. It was midnight, but lightning lit the sky every few seconds. The rain poured, making it nearly impossible to see or move through the wet brush. Grass slapped at them as they ran and weeds and their feet tangled in the knotted weeds and brambles. It was cold, but neither registered the temperature as they made their escape. 

"Just keep going. I'll hold him off if he gets any closer!" Inuyasha growled. He was running alongside his companion, but when she stumbled, he stopped just long enough to pick her up and throw her recklessly over his back, then continued running. They could both feel the darkness that pursued them; every time the lightning flashed it highlighted the enormous silhouette that followed them. The thunder almost seemed like laughter.

Eventually they had to stop and face their pursuer; he was just too close. Inuyasha stepped forward, sword brandished and held solidly to challenge the advancing evil. "Naraku," He growled, eyes narrowed.

Naraku chuckled darkly as he slowed, his prey sufficiently cornered. Now he was close enough that the lightning gave shape to his features. Dark crimson eyes peered at them and teeth flashed white when he smiled. His human form was gone, and he now appeared to them as a weird mutant, a cross between himself and some huge clawed and tentacled beast that slowly closed in on them. "Give her up, hanyou, and I'll spare your life."

"Don't make me laugh! Bastard…" Inuyasha snorted derisively and raised his sword for the first strike…

But it came too late. Before he could even land the blow, one of Naraku's writhing appendages shot forward and impaled the young girl. She gasped, shocked and breathless, then collapsed as the tentacle withdrew.

"_NO!!_" Inuyasha's fury was his undoing. He swung repeatedly, blades of light and energy sinking and disappearing into Naraku's protective shield. Naraku only laughed and began to slink back into the rain-soaked darkness. "We'll meet again soon, hanyou."

Only when the monster that was Naraku had completely disappeared into the night, did Inuyasha give up his attack and rush to his companion's side. "Kikyo…" His voice trembled as he gathered her carefully into his arms. She was shaking, gasping for breath, holding her pale hands to the gaping hole in her stomach. Blood covered both of them and stained the ground they were huddled on. "Kikyo…" He spoke again, but this time it was more of a whimper. They both knew this was the end, but he refused to acknowledge it, instead holding his hand over hers in effort to staunch the blood flow. It was a useless attempt. "Kikyo, hang on. It's not that bad. I'll get help, it'll only take a minute…" He was trying to keep his voice strong for her.

Kikyo looked stunned more than anything. The cold rain on her face made her blink repeatedly as she gazed dazedly up at the young man holding her. Her love. Her soulmate. How had this happened? She'd known she was not meant to lead an ordinary life, but to die this young and in such a violent manner stung. But it shouldn't have been so surprising. They fought an evil that would destroy the world if they did not give their lives to the cause of stopping it. She had known there would be sacrifices to make for winning.

But the small bit of innocence left in her, the part of her that was a normal young woman of nineteen years, who was interested in life and love, didn't want to die. She wanted to live. But a larger part of her knew it wasn't to be. It had come upon her suddenly, but this was her time to go. But Kikyo, the most powerful priestess the modern world knew and Naraku's potentially deadliest opponent, would be damned if she let it all end here.

"Inuyasha," She whispered. It was getting harder to breath, but her words were important. He leaned forward, canine ears cocked forward to catch her faint voice through the din of the storm surrounding them.

"The jewel…it's safe…but you need to find it again." Kikyo coughed, and blood colored her lips. Inuyasha lifted her a bit more, in hopes that it would help her. He looked confused. "But _you _have the jewel. Why do I need to find it?" He asked, afraid to make the conversation carry on and weaken her further, but needing to know the meaning of her words before it was too late.

"Silly Inuyasha," Kikyo smiled slightly. There was no more pain, only numbness. It wouldn't be long now. "It has to go somewhere. Somewhere safe. I'm sending it."

Inuyasha shook his head mutely, fighting tears he was still ashamed to show, even now. "No…" He wasn't sure what he was saying no to. No to everything, really. This wasn't how it was supposed to have happened. "D-destroy it." He suggested halfheartedly. The jewel was a powerful asset, but now it seemed worthless. Was the jewel worth the life of the only one he'd ever loved?

"No…someone will carry….on…" She could barely speak now. Her vision had darkened. She felt warm, secure in Inuyasha's arms. He was trembling, and she wanted to stay, but the pull was too great, and her energy was waning. She had one last job to do, before it was too late.

"No. No! _You _have to carry on!" Inuyasha's voice was choked. He was helpless, and it was the most horrific and surreal feeling he'd ever experienced. But he could see his words weren't reaching her now.

"I love you, Inuyasha." Her soft voice penetrated his remaining barrier, and he broke, clutching her limp body tighter. For a moment she glowed bright and a strong pulse of miko energy loosed itself, sending shudders through his frame. And then she was gone.

* * *

A few hundred miles away, another girl was fighting with every breath to live. Her will was strong, but her body refused her pleas to survive. She was bruised and broken, her life hanging on borrowed time. She had no remaining family, so the doctors had informed her few supporting friends that this was the time to say their goodbyes.

Kagome Higurashi had been a normal seventeen-year-old girl up until two days ago. She was three months away from graduating from high school, kept decent grades, and made ends meet by working odd jobs after school. On weekends she helped out at one of the shrines in her neighborhood. It was in the family after all, to be a priestess, and even though she no longer lived in a shrine herself, it made her feel better to keep that bit of tradition alive.

She lived in a small one bedroom apartment in an older part of town. She couldn't afford anything better, but really she didn't need that much anyway. Her neighbors were young and fun-loving newlyweds Sango and Miroku Hiroke. Sango was a gym teacher at the local junior high school, and Miroku was just starting med school. They'd taken her into their fold the day she had moved in, not asking many questions about why a high school girl would be moving into an apartment all alone. They kept her from being lonely.

And they were here with her now. Sango held her hand tightly, eyes filled with unshed tears. Miroku sat in a chair at the foot of the hospital bed, head in his hands. There were no words that either of them could think to say; everything seemed to be unspoken but already understood. The beep of the heart monitor and hum of various other machines kept the room from being completely silent.

It had happened on her way home from work, late at night. She currently had a job as a receptionist for an auto mechanic, and they had all been working after hours, reorganizing the filing system. One of the mechanics had offered to give her a ride home, which she'd accepted. It was raining hard, and she'd forgotten her umbrella as usual.

He'd seemed like a nice enough guy at work, and she'd known him the whole three months she'd been employed there. But five minutes into the ride and his hand was roaming over her while the other one steered. She pushed his hand away and told him to pull over. Although Kagome was young, she wasn't stupid. She'd been fending for herself for some time now, and she felt no obligation to let the guy cop a feel in return for a ride. He pulled over to appease her, since she looked like she might do something dangerous if he didn't. Without even a goodbye, she'd gotten out of the car and he'd started to tail her, asking her nicely to get back in. She ignored him and wearily she set off to walk the rest of the way home. It wasn't such a long distance, only annoying because of the rain and the cold, and because the guy had taken a short detour from her normal route home, in order to prolong the time with her alone in his car.

There was no other reason she would've been walking along the side of the canal then.

She'd only been walking a few minutes when the car struck her. Her only warning had been a screech of tires behind her, a blaring horn and the loud crunch of metal, and suddenly she was airborne, then lodged tight. Her memories were patchy after that, just snapshots of spinning lights and pavement and glass and inky water, then darkness. Now it was the monotonous beeping of a machine next to her, the soft tones of people speaking in the room, familiar voices and a warm hand holding hers tightly.

Despite her semi-conscious state, something in her grasped the seriousness of her situation and refused to let her float off like another part of her so deeply desired. She knew her life was in the balance, and she'd fought too long and hard to stand on two feet to let herself fall now. Her friends needed her. And she needed them. But it was too hard. Gravity was pulling her down, and she couldn't even manage to open her eyes. Sleep was dragging on her like a hundred lead weights.

And it hurt. The pain was dull, but she ached like nothing else. A permeating physical ache that sometimes made her ill and other times made her want to bang her head against the nearest hard thing, just to try to beat the pain right out, if such a thing were possible. If only she could actually move.

Sango got the call a short time after midnight that night. She and Miroku were Kagome's emergency contacts. Miroku had already gone to bed, but she'd woken him up in an instant as she was hurriedly pulling on her boots and jacket. Miroku was out of bed and ready even before she was. She didn't remember the ride to the hospital; all that was going through her head were memories of the short time she'd known Kagome, and how close they'd become.

It was hard being married at such a young age. She loved Miroku to death and he was madly in love with her as well, but their personalities grated against each other often. They were living in their first apartment together, trying to pay Miroku's school bills and get by at the same time, and things were a bit strained. When Kagome moved into the apartment next to theirs, it was as if her presence gave them something else to put energy into. Kagome was young but wise, independent but needing. Sango was only a couple years older, and they'd hit it off right away, becoming like sisters. Kagome warmed up to Miroku nearly as quickly; he'd groped her on their very first meeting, but after that incident had been sorted out, his cheerful personality and harmless flirtations won her over.

And now it could all end. Sango had had people close to her die before, but she was a bit surprised at how deeply this was affecting her. Because Kagome _was_dying. She was struggling as hard as she could, it was obvious, but maybe this was better…

"Sango…" Miroku's soft voice startled her out of her reverie. She looked up, blinking the tears from her eyes. "You should…" He trailed off, but she knew what he was going to say. She switched her gaze over to Kagome, to her pale face with the cuts and the bruises and the broken nose, the tubes and tape and stitches, and opened her mouth to speak. Kagome could hear, they already knew she could, so it was better this way. At least she could understand how much she meant to them.

Kagome's fingers twitched and moved slightly in her grip, and Sango lost whatever courage she'd mustered up to say what would possibly be the last words. "I can't, Miroku," Her voice was thick. "She's fighting, I can tell. If she wants to fight, then I'll fight with her."

So they stayed. Neither slept, afraid to even leave to get coffee or use the restroom. A few minutes after one, something strange happened. There was a brief flash, and Kagome jerked, hard enough to actually pull her hand loose from Sango's. This immediately stirred Sango from her light doze. "Miroku, did you see something?" She mumbled, looking around in confusion.

"Probably lightning. It's been coming down pretty hard out there for a while." Miroku stood up to stretch. "How's the kid?" He used the term fondly, even though Kagome was only four years younger than him.

"She looks okay. Maybe the flash just startled her. She moved really fast there a second ago." Kagome was now as motionless as she had been before. The couple stared silently at her for a moment, as if something was going to happen. But nothing did.

More time passed and the two settled in again. Kagome was quite the tenacious spirit; her vitals were weak but they didn't falter as much now. Miroku had dozed off again with his head in his arms on the bed, and Sango eventually followed, burying her face in the crook of her elbow, head barely resting against her friend's shoulder.

* * *

Well. There it is. I tried to make it a little longish, since I prefer chapters with at least 2,000 words. This is my nanowrimo brain-baby, so expect some kind of crappy writing, but a lot of updates for this month at least, haha. 

Some notes about the chapter:

1) All my medical scenery I get from watching reruns of House and ER. I'm not going to throw in a bunch of medical jargon, and if I do, I'll do some research on it first.

2) This was the first time I've written a death scene. I didn't cry while I was writing it, nor was I even very sad, but I'm not an emotive person. Hopefully I managed to convey a bit of feeling.

3) If this fic resembles a certain Minnie Driver movie to you, that's because it is kind of. Don't expect a play-by-play of the movie, because obviously there's a bad guy, different situations, etc. I just used the old plot as a springboard of sorts.

Please tell me what you think! Be constructive, and I don't have a beta currently, so if anyone is interested and thinks they can help, please say so. I'm pretty confident in my grammar and spelling though, so a beta would be more help in directing confusing scenes and aiding with the plot a bit.

I'm doing the review dance. Can you see it? I'm over here looking ridiculous, so go ahead. Click on that button. It calls to you.


	2. Chapter 2

Check me out, I got reviews!! Who's the sniznit now? Yeah, it's me, heehee. It's not a lot of reviews, but I won't complain, I was afraid I wouldn't get any at all! Besides, y'all can hide your opinion of the story, but you can't hide the hits! I know people clicked on it smirks

I'm dedicating this chapter to LadyPrin, who was my first reviewer!

Disclaimer: I own Inuyasha...opposite!!

* * *

Inuyasha wasn't in a terribly good mood this morning. Well, he was rarely in a good mood these days, but he was really feeling it now. The sun was fucking shining, the weather was just warm enough for every cheerful human to want to come out and walk around, and if those twittering birds didn't shut the hell up, he felt like he would climb right up one of the trees and shut one of them up himself to set an example for the others.

He wasn't much of a social person any more. He never had been really, but since that day three months ago, he'd been going it alone, and that suited him just fine. Naraku had completely disappeared, and no amount of searching to enact his revenge did any good. And who was he fooling. He never got a single blow in. It stung to think about it, so he pushed the thoughts away for now and focused on making himself a cup of coffee. The stuff tasted terrible and it threw his already heightened senses into overdrive for about an hour, but it was a habit he'd picked up and for some reason he didn't really feel like letting it go today. Maybe tomorrow.

It was ten in the morning and Inuyasha was shuffling around his apartment in his sweats. He didn't have to go into work until the afternoon, so there was no rush. For now he was on personal hire by an elderly woman to do manual labor around her house, and while it wasn't his dream career, it was something to occupy the free time. The old woman, Kaede, was kind enough to give him work even though he was a hanyou and new in town. Hanyous had a sort of bad reputation, much worse than pure-blooded demons, so it was sometimes difficult to get a job. Inuyasha didn't really improve his situation either, with his abrasive personality and harsh attitude. Maybe Kaede had known other hanyou before she'd met him, because she never seemed bothered by his loud complaining and swearing.

On the bright side, Kaede lived in a small house in a quiet neighborhood, where the houses were spaced further apart, the people were friendly but generally minded their own business, and best of all, nobody spoke to him. All he wanted was to do his work in peace and brood, despite the good weather.

Inuyasha had lived most of his life alone. His older half-brother had taken custody of him when he was young, but Inuyasha had always had a wild streak, and his brother didn't give a rip where he was and what he was doing. It was just a formality, really. He'd barely managed to graduate from high school since his attendance had been so low. What he was doing instead of school was anyone's guess, since he didn't associate himself with any of the school or neighborhood gangs.

Soon after graduation he'd met Kikyo, the priestess at a large and popular shrine, its staff known far and wide for their spiritual powers and ability to successfully purify evil and expel the feral demons that often preyed on humans. Inuyasha was their muscle; he wasn't the hugest of guys, but his build was wiry and his demon blood lent him superhuman strength, speed and agility. It was sort of an under-the-table arrangement; the shrine monks and the priestess promoted peace above all, and it would not have looked good to advertise that their services included a slaughter if the demon was persistent enough, and a slaughter by a half-demon, no less.

At first the relationship was purely professional, but the longer they worked together, the closer they became. Kikyo became warmer and more personal as she got to know him, and he found he could trust her with his thoughts as well. For the first time in his life he felt he could relax with someone, although he knew he shouldn't hold out too much hope. They were doomed before the start and they both knew it, but neither could help it.

In the end there hadn't been a choice. Naraku had presented himself as the menacing shadow that only came out at night, lurking in dark corners of the seedy parts of town and picking off random victims, humans and demons alike. No one had actually seen him in clear view, but it was assumed that he was just another feral demon. What they'd thought would be a difficult but not impossible exorcism turned into a horrific series of battles that spanned months as Naraku flipped the tables and started going after the monks and mikos instead. They weren't evenly matched, and the shrine's only advantage was Kikyo, who was the guardian of the Shikon no Tama, a jewel with unprecedented purification powers. With Kikyo's talent and unrelenting determination, they managed to eliminate the majority of Naraku's pawns and decreased his power and sway significantly.

But then Naraku had a specific target. Thinking back, Inuyasha wondered how it hadn't been more glaringly obvious that this was the beginning of the end. They were fools to think they could've stood up to Naraku all alone, when he was dead-set on eliminating one particular target. Naraku knew about the jewel, and it was no secret that when Kikyo was eliminated, the jewel would be destroyed too. That small glass orb would've been his demise, but instead it was hers.

Inuyasha scowled. It had been months, and he'd long since gotten over the sleepless nights, the booze that couldn't make him drunk, and the fierce tearing at his very soul that made him want to lay down and die, just so he wouldn't have to be alone any more. No. He'd pulled himself together and was moving forward, although he still couldn't really see the point. But would there ever be a day he didn't have to hash through those dark memories? If not, then it was just as well. It was his punishment for surviving.

Instead of wallowing more, he opted to wander outside, perhaps walk down to the corner shop and pick up some groceries, for lack of anything better to do. He tied his long hair back and pulled on a hat; no use in disturbing the neighbors with his unusual appearance. It made them stare and he just wasn't in the mood for it today. Some days he sort of got a bit of enjoyment out of shocking the locals, maybe flashing a fang or claw, but this morning he didn't feel like being noticed.

It was only a five minute walk, but he took his time, hands shoved deep in his pockets and shoulders hunched. The old man who ran the cash register recognized him, but other than the usual grunted "good morning," he didn't give any sign that he noticed or cared that a customer had come. Inuyasha wondered if maybe today was the day he would try something new among the various snacks and junk food and drinks, but inevitably he chose the same thing: ramen, potato chips and a cola. The breakfast of champions.

Instead of walking right back home, Inuyasha loitered a bit outside the store, sitting on the lone bench under the shade of the store's short awning, drinking his coke and watching people walk by. It wasn't his idea of interesting, but it definitely beat going back to his apartment to do nothing.

He heaved a sigh. Those birds were still chirping. People were still walking around outside for no good reason except for the "nice" weather. There wasn't a cloud in sight.

_Ah fuck it_, he thought, and got up and stretched. Maybe he'd go over to the hag's house a few hours early today.

* * *

Elsewhere a young girl was uttering similar expletives with a resigned sigh as she half-heartedly tossed her pencil to her pet cat and pushed her math textbook away with a grown. Kagome and math had never gotten on well from the beginning, and because of the stupid accident she now was months behind in her schoolwork! The school board had been very generous in extending her graduation date so that she'd have time to finish with her class, instead of staying another year. What a horror _that _would've been.

Buyo the cat pounced on his new toy, batting it back and forth happily. Kagome looked on in mild amusement, lacking motivation to continue her homework. If Miroku were here, he'd be able to help. He was great at math. And Sango would come over too with takeout from the Chinese restaurant by her school. They'd sit on her couch together and split the time between helping her do her homework and watching reruns on TV. When it got late, Sango would offer to spend the night, that worried tone in her voice that she always got nowadays when she had to leave. Miroku would check that her mobile phone was charged if for some reason she needed them. They both looked as if they would just set up camp in her apartment if she even sneezed. It was kind of cute and funny to her now, even though for a couple of weeks at first they really had.

But Miroku was in class now, learning how to dissect a human foot probably, and Sango was likely off blowing her whistle at cheeky kids, intimidating the little punks with her tall athletic frame and zero-tolerance for sass. Neither would be home until the late afternoon, so until then it was up to her to be productive. She'd become too dependent lately, and it disgusted her. All of her casts and splints were off, and with a couple more weeks of therapy, she'd be off her crutches too. It was time for her to get off her butt and start supporting herself again.

In the beginning she thought surviving being hit by a car would be the difficult part, but it turned out that surviving unemployment was even harder. Her landlord was a jovial middle-aged man who lived with his wife and two young daughters; he had been more than understanding about her predicament and put off collecting rent until she could pay. It was a relief, but Kagome wasn't used to that sort of charity, or being in debt. Plus there were medical bills to pay for, and she had to eat somehow, too…

If she'd had her own way, she would've gone looking for work as soon as she was able to crawl her way out of bed. But her injuries had been near-fatal; the doctors were all astounded that she'd lived. Just surviving didn't guarantee a miraculously fast recovery though. There were times during the weeks after that she'd wished she had just gone ahead and kicked it, for all the pain it would've saved her. Her whole right side had been nearly destroyed from the impact of the car hitting her and pinning her momentarily to a nearby concrete barrier. Sometime between when momentum had swung the car around and when it had slid over the edge and into the canal fifteen feet below, she'd sustained a severe concussion and a dislocated shoulder as well, to say nothing of all the cuts and abrasions. And that was before she'd been taken into water along with the car. It was shocking that she didn't drown as well.

Kagome wasn't quite sure herself when or why her condition had changed so suddenly. She vaguely remembered feeling inexplicably warm, and the air around her had hummed for a moment, then it all disappeared, and everything was as she'd remembered it. Sango, sitting next to her, the soft beeps from the machines, Miroku's low voice talking to Sango. It wasn't as if healing was a frolic through the park, but no longer did she feel as if she was on the verge of being swallowed or pulled under.

Her math homework wasn't becoming any clearer to her now that she'd pushed it away, so she decided to look through the want ads for some work. Sango and Miroku would throw a fit if they caught her even pondering leaving the house, but what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them, so she folded the paper under her arm, grabbed her keys and bag, and hobbled-shuffled her way out. Neither of her over-protective neighbors would be home in at least three hours, so she had plenty of time to amble down to the small neighborhood park a couple of blocks away and find a bench to sit on and read.

Kagome shook her head. What had her life come to, when she was sneaking off to parks in broad daylight?

The landlord's wife waved cheerfully to her as she passed by. The streets were fairly quiet, as school hadn't let out yet for the day. Belatedly she thought that maybe she should've brought her homework with her as well. At least she would've been getting some fresh air while she was doing it. Oh well, definitely tomorrow. She definitely wasn't getting out enough lately, and the cabin fever was beginning to depress her.

The park was nearly empty, with only two small children playing on the swings while their mother sat calmly to the side on a bench, reading a magazine. Kagome found her own seat at a picnic table and carefully spread out the paper, carefully weighing the edges down with a few small stones she'd picked up. When she was situated just right, she pulled a pen out of her bag and started perusing, idly circling the jobs that she thought might suit her or sounded interesting. Her mind wandered a bit when nothing in particular caught her attention, and after flipping to the personals for a bit of amusement, she gave up reading the newspaper in favor of just staring out into space, mind in a half-doze.

It really was a sweet little neighborhood. On this block there were only quaint little houses with nice green yards and white picket fences. There were no sounds of traffic from the larger roads, and the streets were one-lane corridors with no cars and room for the neighborhood children to throw a ball.

Currently, whoever lived directly across the street from the park was having their roof repaired, and Kagome found herself watching this for some time. There was only one guy working, and even from across the street Kagome thought he was the most interesting-looking person she'd ever seen. He had long silver hair that was quite eye-catching. _Must have demon blood_, Kagome thought to herself. It was fascinating to watch him leap from the ground up onto the roof with so little apparent effort.

Her mind wandered on to other things, but without anything more interesting to divert her gaze, Kagome's eyes remained inadvertently locked on the strange laborer.

* * *

Inuyasha knew that girl across the street at the park was staring at him, and it was driving him nuts. He'd given her the finger three times now, and she hadn't even blinked. Was she crazy? He was _this close _to going over there and having a "talk" with her. In fact, that was just what he was going to do, before Kaede came out and caught him slacking. Keh. What would an old bag like Kaede do about him slacking off? Well, fire him, maybe…

When Inuyasha looked back up to check that she was still staring, the girl was gone. Ah, no wait, there she was, hurrying off at a respectable clip for a cripple with crutches. _Weird_, he thought and shook his head, somewhat lamenting his lost excuse to take a break from work.

* * *

Well, that's chapter two for you. I don't think I'll update every day, but I am actively writing this mother out, so it will be more like when I write something that looks like an appropriately complete chapter.

I feel bad for Inuyasha kind of, getting stared at. I live in southeast Asia, but I'm white, so I get stared at a lot. Not in a backwards way, just everyone discreetly has to check out the foreigner.

Please read and review! Next chapter there's going to actually be some dialog instead of all of this enthralling backstory.


	3. Chapter 3

Aaand here we are with chapter three. Shockingly, there is some dialog. I'm a little bummed that I didn't get any reviews for the last chapter. Was it no good? I guess it was fairly boring, but it's starting to pick up a little. I'm an action/adventure sort of girl, I promise if you're bored reading it, I was probably bored writing it, haha.

Disclaimer: Neither Inuyasha nor his supporting cast are in my possession at this time.

--

"Kagome, I'm back! Where are you?" Sango called as she let herself in the front door.

"Back here…" Was the muffled reply. Sango dropped her things off on the floor by the door and wandered towards the bedroom where Kagome was sure to be. It wasn't like it was a very large apartment.

Kagome was sprawled out on her bed with what looked like homework from several different subjects spilled out in front of her. "I don't think I can graduate." She muttered with a defeated sigh. It wasn't a serious comment and they both knew it. Kagome was a good student, and a little extra work never stopped her from getting what she needed or wanted. Sango ignored her and leaned over her friend, looking through the papers to assess the damage. It was just the typical fare Kagome had been slogging through for the past month and a half, not rocket science. But everyone needed a break now and then.

"Miroku will get out of class in an hour. Why don't we order some pizza and rent a movie later?" Sango suggested as she made herself comfortable on the bed, careful not to hit Kagome accidentally with an errant elbow or knee. Kagome didn't seem to notice that her space had been invaded. "Why don't we go out?" She suggested instead.

"I think I feel like staying in." Sango evaded. Sango and Miroku never wanted to go out any more. There had been so many nights that they'd just spent at home doing nothing that it was more of a habit than anything else. What was worse, they seemed to embrace their own voluntary house arrest along with hers. Didn't they have a life?

"I have a better idea. Why don't you guys stay at home and have a pizza, and I'll go out and do some shopping!" Kagome offered brightly, more as a joke than anything. Sango was the protective big sister she'd never had, and who else was around to mother her the way she and Miroku were so fond of doing? She had a few school friends who still came around fairly often and helped her with schoolwork, but they were busy finding jobs or getting ready to go to college.

Sango fidgeted. Kagome rolled over to lie on her back, and Sango shifted her legs to give her room to move. "I gave five boys and two girls detention today." She changed the subject in a flat tone. "The boys set off the fire alarm. The whole school went crazy for about twenty minutes….it was kind of nice." She smirked slightly and Kagome giggled.

"I saw a guy with silver hair today."

"Was he hot? Where did you see him?" Sango lolled her head over to get a better look at Kagome, who had her eyes closed.

"I don't know. He was over by the park."

"What were you doing all the way over there? Sango sounded a bit distraught, so Kagome attempted to placate her a bit. "It's only two blocks away, Sango. I was just going out for some fresh air."

"But…" Sango's voice petered off. This really was a ridiculous situation. Kagome was old enough to know if she could go take a walk. She'd needed help for a while, but now she was okay.

"I need a job. Do you know anywhere that's offering any positions that are office work?" Kagome changed the subject this time. So much for hiding her aspirations for returning to normal life. But Sango didn't balk like she'd thought she would. Instead she looked as if she was actually trying to think of one. "The school might be hiring an office assistant. I'll ask. Are you sure you're ready to start working again?" Sango looked a bit concerned.

"I have to. My bills are stacking up. And working at an office can't be that hard. I'll be finished with all this schoolwork in another few weeks, and then what? I've got nothing for now." Kagome didn't really like thinking about her future. For now college was completely out of the question, she didn't have a serious boyfriend she was planning on marrying, and no other job or career piqued her interest even remotely. She only had one important goal, really.

Since her mother's death three years before, Kagome had been supporting herself for the most part. For the first year or so she lived with her younger brother Souta with a distant relative on the other side of the country. But it hadn't worked well for her, and so with many misgivings, Kagome had moved out, leaving her younger brother behind. She returned to her hometown and managed to get an apartment with the money she'd saved up. It was hard leaving Souta alone, but it had been much harder to stay. Her standing promise had been to take Souta back when she had enough money to take care of the two of them.

"Is anybody here?" The sound of the front door opening and a masculine voice interrupted their silence. "Honey? Where are you?"

"I'm in here!" Sango called and Miroku appeared in the doorway a moment later. "Darling, I've missed you so!" He clutched at his heart dramatically.

"Missed you too, dear." Sango replied flatly.

"Not you, Sango, I was talking to Kagome!" He rushed over and grabbed Kagome's hand with both of his. "Kagome, you should've warned me Sango was here. How _awkward_." He muttered out of the corner of his mouth. Kagome snickered and Sango rolled her eyes. Both were quite used to Miroku's antics by now.

Miroku dropped the act and pecked Sango on the lips. "How was work?" He asked as he dropped his schoolbag on the floor and settled down in the desk chair, spinning himself back and forth in it idly. Kagome wondered why they didn't just live all together; Miroku and Sango certainly felt at ease waltzing in and out of her apartment as they pleased. She even had a key to their apartment, although she was much more wary of letting herself into their place uninvited than vice versa.

"It was okay. How was school?"

"Oh, every moment of it was pure rapture! My mind was filled to the brim with valuable knowledge, and my soul was lifted to a higher plane!" Miroku looked starry-eyed, as if he was witnessing the heavens part and angels sing.

"That boring?" Kagome queried. Miroku's expression dropped like a rock. "Every day I die a little more inside." He admitted with regret. Miroku was quite smart, and learning came to him fairly easily, but he had a fairly short attention span when it came to anything that wasn't beautiful women. This was a flaw Kagome disapproved of somewhat, but Sango punished him much more severely for his errant ways than Kagome ever could. Miroku was clearly infatuated with Sango above anything else though, so the two girls were fairly forgiving.

"Kagome saw a guy today." Sango informed him seriously.

"A guy?" Miroku raised his eyebrows in interest. "It's been so long since I've seen a guy, what do they look like these days?" He played along.

"I don't know, he wasn't very close. I also saw two children and a woman and the landlord's wife." Kagome said with disinterest. "I only mentioned the guy to Sango because he had silver hair."

"You like older men?" Miroku's face fell a bit, as if he were disappointed.

"No! I think he was a youkai."

Nobody could think of a response to that. Youkai were fairly uncommon in this city, although they'd all seen them on occasion. Except for the wild ones that were more like varmints than real beings, youkai lived mostly quiet and normal lives. They were in a minority, but other than a few physical differences in appearance and abilities, most were generally the same as people.

"I kind of want to see him, out of curiosity." Sango pondered. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone with silver hair. I have a youkai student with blue hair, though. It's really cool looking."

"Sango, this isn't a zoo! I saw him fixing a roof I think." Kagome rolled her eyes. All this over some strange guy. "I have to finish this homework guys. Anybody want to help?" She sighed and began collecting her papers and books together to start again.

"I'll help, don't worry." Sango reassured her.

"I have chemistry homework and a paper to write, but I'll be on your couch if you need anything." Miroku picked up his bag and meandered out into the main room.

Kagome sighed again and tried to find her place again in her history textbook. She had only been looking at the page for fifteen seconds and already she was starting to see double. It promised to be a long night, like so many before it, but the end was in sight. It was only a few more weeks until she took her final round of exams but, assuming she passed them, she would be finished after that. What happened then was anybody's guess, but she hoped to be doing something a bit more exciting than this.

--

Inuyasha was experiencing some excitement of his own the next afternoon as he struggled to start Kaede's old lawnmower. The old bat's contraption was surely even older than he was. It wasn't broken, he was positive, because he'd used just two weeks ago. Perhaps it was just toying with him. Cursing loudly, he lifted the whole thing off the ground and shook it, hoping to strike some proper fear into the beast. Because of the loud crash the lawnmower made when it hit the ground again, he _almost _missed the soft giggle that came from across the street. His head shot up, searching for the source of the mocking laugh. Somebody was going to get it now…

He noticed the same girl who had been staring the day before was there again, but she wasn't looking at him. She was reading a newspaper. Had she been laughing? He couldn't tell. It had come from her direction, but her face was completely straight, and she looked quite engrossed with her paper.

"Pretty girl. Why don't you go talk to her?" Kaede's voice startled him, which in itself was very unsettling. He had superb hearing, how had he missed her approaching him? Inuyasha opened his mouth to protest vehemently before he caught the twinkle in her eye. He shut it and grunted. "What do you want?" He asked gruffly, attempting to recover from the situation.

"I'm making tea, do you want any?" Kaede asked kindly. He nodded and turned back to the rebellious lawnmower to try to start it again. It still refused, coughing and sputtering before settling back into silence. He bit back another stream of foul words (it was in bad taste to swear so colorfully in front of an elderly woman) and grabbed the pull cord again to show it the full might of his wrath. Unfortunately he yanked so hard that the cord ripped out. For a moment he stood there, the broken cord in his hand, aghast. The girl across the street coughed, but when he looked, she was still reading. He ground his teeth bitterly. The gods of pride and dignity must be very angry with him today.

--

Kagome was having a very pleasant afternoon, doing more research through the classifieds, and getting an extremely entertaining display from the strange boy across the street. She wondered absently if he'd remembered to put gas into the lawnmower, but she wasn't about to suggest it to him now; he didn't look open for any input at the moment. She'd laughed a bit once, and he'd heard and nearly caught her. Then he'd broken the pull cord and she'd barely managed to turn the laugh into a cough. He heard, she knew it. Ah, men and their egos. Such bravado, and yet their egos were so very delicate.

The night before had been as uninteresting as all the others. She'd done more homework, Sango had helpfully quizzed her for her English test, and Miroku had done nothing at all except take up space and moan about his declining health, diagnosing himself with several rare and fatal illnesses. When he wasn't moaning, he'd been doing his homework as well.

They'd left around midnight, and after another hour or so of watching TV, she'd gone on to bed as well. Schoolwork was time consuming and all, but when it was the only thing she had to do, she became rather bored. So in her spare time, she'd taken up practicing her new and unusual talent: making her hands glow.

Kagome had not told Sango or Miroku about this; it was a very disconcerting sight to behold, in her opinion. She'd discovered it a few weeks after the accident. At times her hands, and even arms sometimes, would take on a subtle glow. She couldn't control it, but it had disturbed her so much in the beginning that her main focus was on making it go away. She knew it was a spiritual force of some kind; she'd seen it sometimes while working at the shrine. Some priestesses had healing or purifying powers, and they could make this sort of 'glow' as well. But they'd all had extensive training and innate powers to begin with. She'd had neither. But the human spirit was a strange entity. Kagome assumed something had changed in her after such a near-death experience. Something that would cause a weird shift in her aura, perhaps. After all, it did sort of run in the family.

At about three o'clock Kagome decided to gather up her things and head back. She had a few more ideas about work than the day before, and she was eager to call and ask about them. The silver-haired boy had given up temporarily on mowing the lawn and had retreated to the back to do repairs on the fence, so there wasn't anything funny to spy on any more. She smiled to herself a bit when she remembered his violent temperament with the lawnmower. It was probably really scary and intimidating up close, but from a safe distance his ire was an amusing distraction. Not that she would ever tell him that.

* * *

As I was writing, I was getting a little tired of the parental way I've been portraying Miroku and Sango, so that's going to change. Also, I'm tired of talking about Kagome the cripple with a sucky life. Kagome's a strong girl, she's moving on. This isn't an emo fic, Kagome's going to be a very charming and admirable character, even if I do torture her a bit.

Please leave some reviews, guys. I know people are reading and putting me on their alerts and favorites list...It would be cool if I got maybe 10 reviews for this chapter. I'm not going to whine and stop posting if I don't get reviews, but they encourage me and make me feel happy that I'm spending my free time beating out fanfiction :-)


	4. Chapter 4

Hey everybody! Thanks to the people who reviewed, I'm happy I at least got some comments about the last chapter. In this chapter, I'm introducing four characters we all know and have varying levels of endearment towards!! So I'll shut up now and let you guys read.

Disclaimer: It's all in my head, not in my wallet.

* * *

Kagome finally got lucky with her job hunting a week later, when she found a position as an after-school tutor and a babysitter of sorts for a seven-year-old boy. His parents were extremely wealthy but equally busy, and mainly wanted someone to keep him occupied for the afternoon and evening. His name was Shippo, and apparently he was very bright, having already skipped a grade. He was full youkai as well. Kagome didn't know if this affected his behavior or perhaps caused him to not have many friends. Souta had been quite the handful in his younger years though, so Kagome was confident that she could handle whatever the little youngster threw at her.

Meanwhile, Kagome's early-afternoon visits to the park quickly became a sort of habit for her. She started bringing her homework with her, and was able to almost enjoy herself in the quiet atmosphere, despite the fact that she was working on painful things such as trigonometry and biology. People were rarely around, and it made her feel better to leave her stuffy apartment for at least a bit.

Also the silver-haired guy was always working right across the street. So far he'd been outside every day that she'd come, doing various chores, swearing loudly and breaking things. Kagome had to wonder what the woman who lived there thought of him. Maybe he was a relative and the woman couldn't fire him. Still, it was interesting to watch him. She enjoyed the sort-of feminine way he flipped his long ponytail back, and puzzled at the odd way his bandana quirked up on both sides. He had a great body too, from what she could see. He was a bit tall and well-built, leaning neither to the skinny side nor the fat side. He had claws, which she had seen him use on several occasions when trimming the trees, and once or twice she'd even spied some fangs. He carried himself confidently, but often wore a scowl, even when there was no one around to be angry with.

At first Kagome thought that maybe she was getting a little crush on him. But the more she thought about it (and she thought about it a lot while doing her homework and observing him) the more she realized that it wasn't a romantic emotion she was feeling. She was getting the distinct impression that she'd met him before somewhere, although she knew it was impossible that they'd known each other and she'd completely forgotten about it. There was something about him that drew her attention, and Kagome wasn't the type to just gawk at the opposite sex, even if they were handsome or strange-looking.

Kagome was still thinking about the unusual connection she was feeling while on her way to her first day with Shippo. She'd brought candy in case she needed a bribe or if he was especially well-behaved, and a book in case he was the studious type and didn't really need any caring for at all. She was taking the bus to one of the nicer neighborhoods around town, but she would have to find her way to the house on her own after that. Fortunately the mother's personal assistant had left her very detailed directions, so she anticipated no troubles finding it.

The bus dropped her off at the corner of the street, and already Kagome was in awe that houses this size actually existed in real life, and that she was standing in front of them. Pulling herself back down to earth, Kagome examined the map, chose her direction, and started walking.

It turned out to be a bit further than she'd thought, mostly because the houses and their yards were so sprawled out. But she made it to the house in fairly good time. It was a pretty house, not the biggest mansion on the block, but possibly one of the nicest-looking, with a perfectly-manicured lawn, long paved driveway leading to a four-car garage, and the traditional architecture of the two-story house itself. This Shippo was probably going to be a bit bratty, but with what they were paying her per hour, Kagome figured she could deal with it.

When she pushed the doorbell, she could hear the chimes echoing through the house, and wondered absently if the noise was bothersome to its residence. After a moment, the door was answered by a handsome young man with messy brown hair and startling cerulean eyes. After a second look she could tell he was youkai; his ears were decidedly pointed, and when he grinned sharp fangs flashed. "You must be Kagome. I'm Kouga, it's a pleasure to meet you!" Kouga opened the door wider for her to come in and shook her hand warmly. She could see his eyes narrow just slightly as gave her a once-over. It wasn't a mean expression, more one of slight confusion or calculation. Maybe she looked younger than he'd been expecting? His smile suddenly dropped as he eyed her crutches. "You're hurt! Why didn't you say anything on the phone? We would've sent the car for you." He looked almost offended that she'd been put to the trouble of walking.

"Oh no, it's fine! It doesn't hurt, and the exercise is good for me." Kagome assured him. Kouga grinned again. "That doesn't matter, a lovely lady such as yourself shouldn't be taking the city bus anyway," He said a little flirtatiously. "Tomorrow we'll pick you up. Let me take your bag, and I'll give you the tour of the house." Kouga took her backpack and disappeared with it into a side room, then reappeared a few seconds later.

"Are you the butler?" Kagome said half-jokingly. Surely this family didn't seriously have a butler. Did anybody outside of the movies really have a butler?

"Sort of," Kouga laughed. "I work for Mr. Morisoto. I'm a junior partner at his investment firm, but these days I just organize his life for him. I guess that makes me sort of a secretary, doesn't it?"

Kagome eyed him. Kouga definitely looked like a businessman, even though the sleeves of his shirt were rolled up and his tie was loosened. She shrugged. "Mr. Morisoto must be really busy then?"

"Ridiculously busy. Mrs. Morisoto is very busy too, so it'll be good that you're hear to watch Shippo. He's a good kid most of the time. Just attention-starved I guess." Kouga mused. "Anyway, let me show you around." He started walking, briskly but not in a rushed way. Kagome got the impression that he moved rather fast in everything he did.

The inside of the house was immaculate, but somehow this didn't surprise her. If both of the parents had personal assistants and they were hiring her to watch their kid, surely they had the money for a maid as well. "Mrs. Morisoto doesn't like for Shippo to be in the dining room, the bar, the pool house, the study, her office, or either of the guest bedrooms or bathrooms. I'll show you where those all are later." Kagome must've looked a bit shocked, because when Kouga turned around to continue, he interrupted himself and reassured her, "He's allowed pretty much anywhere else around here, it's just that those rooms are rather…well-decorated, and she'd prefer a small child not play around there."

"I see," Kagome was still a bit surprised, but she supposed it made sense, if the mother was trying to preserve valuables. Seven-year-olds could be pretty wild. "Where is Shippo's room?" They were now walking through the kitchen. Kagome could see a large patio past glass sliding doors, and beyond that a very inviting swimming pool.

"Shippo's room is upstairs, but he spends most of his time in the basement. His computer and games and things are down there, and he usually does his schoolwork there too." Now they were wandering through the den, which sported an impressive entertainment system.

"He's only seven, right? Why does he have that much schoolwork?" She peered up the winding staircase as they walked by. It looked pretty vast up there too, but Kouga didn't seem to see any need to take her up.

"He's in some accelerated-learning courses I think. He's pretty smart, and Mr. Morisoto is very ambitious about sending him to a prestigious boarding school when he gets to be old enough." They had reached the foyer again. "If you have any questions, Chiyo, the housekeeper, is here until six on weekdays. She's been here for at least five years I think, so she knows everything."

Kagome opened her mouth to say something when the front door burst open, startling her. A short wiry boy with bright red hair and pointed ears darted in, belatedly remembering to shut the door behind him.

"Good, you're here. Shippo, this is your new tutor Kagome. Kagome, this is Shippo." Kouga made the introductions rather informally. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting to go to, unfortunately. Kagome," He seemed to drop his business-like air, and grabbed her hand again as if to shake it. "It was wonderful meeting you, and I would love to take you to dinner sometime." He was still holding her hand. She smiled, not sure of what to do. "I'll be back around eight to drive you home." He winked and released her; in two seconds he'd disappeared again somewhere, leaving her alone with one curious-looking little boy.

"Hi Shippo! It's nice to meet you." Kagome said cheerfully.

"You have crutches. Why do you have crutches?" Shippo asked bluntly, but not offensively. He seemed genuinely interested. Maybe he wasn't very bratty after all.

"I got hit by a car." Kagome said simply. In this particular case the truth was just more interesting than any funny or far-fetched story she could fabricate. Shippo's eyes widened in disbelief. "No way. Really?"

"Really." She smiled.

"Did it hurt?" Shippo wanted to know, naturally. Kagome paused to think. "Yeah, but I don't remember too much. It hit me really hard, and I fell in a canal."

If Shippo's eyes got any wider, she was sure they'd fall out. He recovered quickly though. "My friend Bobby hit me once, and I fell into a pool. He's not really my friend though."

"I don't blame you. Why don't you show me downstairs? Kouga says that's where you usually go to do your schoolwork." She suggested, hoping to get him interested in showing her around. He immediately perked up and grabbed her hand, leading her toward the stairs. "I think Kouga really likes you." Shippo said matter-of-factly.

"Really?" Kagome arched one eyebrow.

"Yeah, he's not that nice to hardly anybody else. Sometimes if I'm in the way, he'll pick me up and throw me down the stairs!"

Kagome's eyes widened. "You're kidding!"

"Yeah, but don't worry, it doesn't hurt. I'm a youkai!" Shippo puffed up proudly. It was true that youkai had a much tougher constitution than humans, so Kagome took his word for it.

She promptly forgot about Kouga's supposed affections and his habits of child abuse when she saw the 'basement,' which was at least twice the size of her own apartment. Shippo took his time showing her his study room and all of his toys, various video games, movies, and an air hockey table that Kagome knew she'd be playing with whenever Shippo finished his homework.

After about half an hour of intense demonstrations on the uses of his dvd player and flat-screen TV (which was the size of Kagome's coffee table at home), Shippo left her to watch a movie while he did his homework. Kagome thought it was pretty cute, how important it was to him that she be entertained while he had to work. He seemed quite mature for his age, really the cliché poor-little-rich-boy. But although Kagome understood the value and importance of having parents actively involved in a kid's life, looking around the posh den, she had to admit that this wasn't a half-bad setup either.

* * *

Elsewhere in Japan, an inu-youkai was getting a little pissed off, and his human companion was getting a little nervous.

Sesshoumaru frowned irritably, and for him, this was a fairly grandiose display of emotion. He wasn't one to pace or drum his fingers when he was upset; it was all in the eyes. If he was relatively satisfied, they were hard. If he was angry, they narrowed and became icy. And truly it was a bad day if Sesshoumaru Takahashi's emotions ever made it down to the rest of his face, as they had today.

"D-do you want more tea, Sesshoumaru-sama?" Rin was a little afraid to speak. Sesshoumaru had been her guardian since she was six years old, and she knew him better than anyone, but even she knew better than to bother him when he was angry.

Sesshoumaru shook his head; he was concentrating on the papers he'd been staring at for the past half hour. It had taken two months, but he'd finally found his no-account, good-for-nothing half-brother. And what was he doing? Living from meal to meal in some ratty apartment, doing manual labor to get by. This was not appropriate for a Takahashi, even a bastard Takahashi, but Inuyasha had always done what he wanted, when and how he wanted to. Why on earth would now be any different. For a while Inuyasha had been making himself useful, working with the people hunting Naraku, doing productive things. Then that miko had died and everything had, as they liked to say, gone to pot. Naraku had vanished, they'd lost all their leads, and Inuyasha had just left his life behind, not telling anyone.

Well, maybe Inuyasha wasn't _completely _good for nothing. He had to be good for at least something, or else Sesshoumaru wouldn't be needing his help now. And it irritated him to no end, the fact that he needed help. That miko had told Inuyasha _something _before she'd died, something about that _damned _jewel, and by the time Sesshoumaru had found out about it, Inuyasha had already left. And though it pained him to think of it, if Inuyasha didn't want to be found, not even Sesshoumaru would be able to find him.

The most irksome part of this whole lengthy search had been that Inuyasha most likely didn't even know he had a valuable piece of information! The whole balance of power amongst youkai was being determined by a jewel that had been held ironically by a human girl, a miko. Of all the males in the world, this miko had for some unknown reason chosen Inuyasha to love, and had told him the fate of the jewel. And now Inuyasha was off brooding somewhere, probably mourning his loss over-excessively, and being selfishly ignorant of what was actually important.

Fortunately, Sesshoumaru mused, his bastard half-brother wasn't a very sneaky or conniving mongrel. Inuyasha was loud, cocky, violent, crass and petty, yes. But he was also fairly simple. He wasn't the type to hold his information for a price, so Sesshoumaru knew that getting it was only a matter of surpassing one small obstacle: the fact that Inuyasha loathed Sesshoumaru just as much as Sesshoumaru despised him.

The Takahashis were what people referred to as 'old money.' Youkai were long-lived beings, and even then the wealth and status had been in their family for quite a few generations. Since the death of Inutaisho, their father, Sesshoumaru had inherited the head position in the family, as the firstborn son. Inuyasha had inherited…much more than he should have, in Sesshoumaru's opinion. Unfortunately this meant he couldn't kick the hanyou out of the family. To appease himself a tiny bit, Sesshoumaru had also assumed the title of president in the family shipping company, where he had promptly abolished nepotism and refused Inuyasha any position in the company.

Not that Inuyasha had requested a job, but that wasn't the point.

Sesshoumaru scowled even harder at the papers in his hands, the reports on Inuyasha's most recent locations and activities. He couldn't afford to send one of his assistants to do this; he was going to have to go himself. "Rin." He addressed his charge, who was still waiting in the doorway. The petite, dark-haired girl of twelve stepped forward. She was silent, and Sesshoumaru knew his behavior was making her a bit nervous. Not that she had anything to worry about; he would rather cut his own tongue out than say a sharp word to the girl, and he'd die before he ever raised his hand against her in anger. "I'm leaving on a trip. I'll be only a few days. Tell Jaken to stay with you." His words were brief, but softened for her sake.

"Okay, Sesshoumaru-sama." Rin smiled. It always made him the tiniest bit nervous to leave her, but she never seemed worried or afraid. And his assistant Jaken was too anal and obsessive to let any danger come to her.

Sesshoumaru flexed his claws. This was very distasteful business, but nobody else could do it. His embarrassment of a half-brother had been hiding long enough; it was time to beat some sense into him and start the hunt again.

* * *

AN: Hark, dost mine eyes detect a bit of plot movement? No way!!

1) Yeah, I'm going for the whole paternal/guardian/protector thing for this particular story, in regards to Sesshoumaru and Rin's relationship. I don't have anything against fics with a romantic relationship, but I'm not just going to complicate things this time. Maybe in another fic. Plus, she's twelve. Ew.

2) I portrayed Sesshoumaru as being the tiniest bit juvenile here, because he kind of is, in my opinion. Even in canon anime, he's got a chip on his shoulder about Inuyasha, and it's just because he's being bitter. I also thought about shaking things up and giving Sesshoumaru a normal middle-class job, but I just couldn't. Everything about him screams aristocracy.

3) Here's a bit of useless trivia: when I write and spell-check underlines all my characters' names as misspellings, Inuyasha's 'recommended' spelling is 'Natasha.' Sesshoumaru has no recommended spelling.

As always, please review!


	5. Chapter 5

Nothing really to say here.

Disclaimer: I got nuthin.

* * *

Inuyasha sneezed. All these spring flowers and shit were making him sick or something. Today he was supposed to be up in Kaede's attic, repairing the beams or something, but he'd snuck out for some fresh air. The stale air and the insulation up in the attic made his eyes water and his skin crawl.

Then he felt it. That stare. Over the past week or so, he'd really developed a sixth sense about that crazy bitch who came to the park and stared at him. He glared in her direction, sure he would catch her in the act now. But she was just thumbing through a book on the table, taking notes in the margins. That was _it_. This was not all in his head, there was something strange about how she kept watching him and didn't look like she was doing it. And he was going to stop it once and for all. Purposefully he strode over across the street to confront her.

--

"Do you have a problem, _wench_?" The angry male voice nearly scared the crackers out of Kagome. She jumped violently and dropped her pencil, which rolled down the uneven picnic table and fell into the grass below. Right there standing over her was that strange youkai boy with the hair. He was taller up close, and definitely more pissed-looking.

"What?" She asked blankly, even though she could guess at what he was getting at.

"Don't play dumb, I can smell when people lie. If you have a problem, say it, or stop fucking staring at me!" He was leaning forward, in her face now. She frowned.

"I wasn't _staring_at you, I was doing my homework. Get over yourself." Kagome replied calmly. _Now _who had the problem?

The boy's mouth opened and shut wordlessly. His eyes, a strange golden amber color, flashed dangerously, and for a split second Kagome wondered if maybe she hadn't really set him off. He grabbed her upper arm roughly and she stood, immediately bracing her hand against his chest to push him away.

The pulse of light was out of her hand before she even felt it coming. Suddenly her palm and fingertips were glowing faintly against the boy's white shirt. They had both frozen, his hand still around her arm and her hand pushing at the middle of his chest. His eyes were wide, drilling holes into hers, but all the ire had left them. Instead he looked shocked. And that that feeling she'd had that she somehow knew him was stronger than ever. Disturbed more than anything else, she pulled her hand away.

--

For a split second, Kikyo had been standing right in front of him. He had the girl's arm in his grip, was about to give her a colorful piece of his mind, when she'd touched him. Suddenly all he could see was Kikyo in her place, as if the two images were overlaid. And then she stepped back, and Kikyo was gone.

In the stunned seconds that followed, Inuyasha decided that he could definitely see a strong resemblance between the two. Why hadn't he recognized it in the first place? This girl was a bit shorter, thinner, and younger-looking. Her hair was dark like Kikyo's, but thicker and more unruly. Even though she wasn't looking happy now, she had a more approachable demeanor to her. Still, there was no mistaking the almost identical faces. And the spiritual power she faintly emanated was obvious now that he was looking for it, and not blinded by irritation. Being half youkai enabled him to detect purification powers just like any regular youkai would be able to do; he wouldn't die from being purified, but it was still a threat. All that time he had worked with the monks and Kikyo had certainly sharpened his senses as well.

"What just happened? What did you just do?" The girl was the first to speak up. She sounded nervous as she stared incredulously at her on hand, then at him.

"_Me??_" Now it was his turn to be incredulous. "I didn't do a thing! _You're_the one trying to purify me!" He let go of her to throw up his hands emphatically, and she immediately stepped back out of his reach.

"How could I purify you if I don't have any _powers_." She said it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Ah, but you do have power, child." Inuyasha turned to see Kaede behind them. How did she sneak around so quietly? "Forgive Inuyasha's rudeness, it's just his personality." She said dryly. If Inuyasha didn't have some respect for elderly women, he would've smacked her.

"My name is Kaede. I think I can help you." Kaede introduced herself. The girl bowed politely. "I'm Kagome. But why would I need help?"

"Your hand is glowing, but you are not a miko." She pointed out the obvious. Kagome looked guiltily at the offending hand and then stuck it into the pocket of her sweatshirt, as if to prevent them from staring. "Don't worry," Kaede continued. "I won't tell anyone. But you should know how to control it. I can teach you a bit—"

"That's alright," Kagome interrupted. "I used to work at a shrine, I'm familiar with the ways, and I know what this looks like. But it's just a mistake. I haven't been feeling well recently. This doesn't happen that often, I'm sure it'll wear off." Kagome fibbed. Kaede seemed kind enough, but she wasn't ready to get pulled into some strange priestess lessons, especially if this annoying guy would be hovering around. She already knew she didn't like him. "Actually, I should go. I have work in a bit, so I need to hurry." Kagome excused herself, hurriedly throwing her book in her bag and slinging it over one shoulder.

"Kagome," Kaede stopped her. "Come tomorrow for tea. It would be nice to have some company besides Inuyasha." She smiled a bit. Kagome wavered, then gave in. "Okay, tomorrow then. Bye." She bowed again to Kaede, but completely ignored Inuyasha.

Inuyasha scoffed. Nasty bitch. He took his original thought back, this Kagome was nothing like Kikyo. He could almost see the horns coming out of her head. "Why the hell did you invite her back?" He rounded on Kaede the second Kagome had turned the corner. "I was trying to get rid of her!"

Kaede sighed wearily. "Go back to the attic, Inuyasha." She waved him off and started walking back to the house. Inuyasha muttered darkly to himself but complied.

--

Kagome thought of the encounter the whole afternoon as she tutored Shippo. It was a good thing that the kid was so bright and self-sufficient, or else it would've been really obvious that her mind just wasn't in the game. She studied her right hand thoughtfully. She knew there was some sort of spiritual energy hidden somewhere in there. Did it just come out when she touched a youkai? No, that was impossible, or else there would've been a reaction when she'd shaken Kouga's hand.

Then again, he had looked at her a little strangely, kind of the way Inuyasha looked today. She had to test it. Impulsively, she poked Shippo gently in the arm.

"What?" Shippo looked up, curious.

"Nothing, you had lint on your shirt." Kagome gave the first excuse she could think of. Shippo looked at her as if he thought she'd gone a bit off, but shrugged and continued on his math assignment. She sighed. No luck there. She hadn't seen or felt a thing.

She was feeling a bit timid about meeting Kaede tomorrow, though. Kaede seemed like a very nice old woman, but the way she'd known about her "problem" and addressed it straight off unnerved her. After today's events, she'd resolved never to set foot in that park again; she'd just find another pleasant location to finish her schoolwork. But Kaede was expecting her now, and Kagome wasn't a rude girl. She'd show up, make idle chatter for an hour or two, keep her hands off that strange youkai (as if that would be hard to do), and leave and never come back. Good riddance.

"Kagome? Kagome, are you okay?" Shippo was talking to her. She blinked and shook her head.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I was just thinking." Kagome smiled. Shippo didn't look convinced, but against his normal tendency for being curious, he let it go and decided not to ask. "I need help with math." He pushed his papers over to her so that she could see.

_How ironic,_ Kagome thought. _Math is my worst subject, and I'm sitting here getting paid to teach it. It's like the blind leading the blind. Or more like the blind quadriplegic vegetable leading the blind. _Kagome snickered at the idea. It was only multiplication tables, even she could handle that.

Kouga was ready promptly at eight to take her home, charming grin on his face as usual as he took her bag for her. She rarely saw him during the day, except to catch occasional glances of him bursting into the house, running for Mr. Morisoto's study to retrieve something, then running right back out again. He was always talking to the small earpiece that seemed to be a permanent attachment, This looked half professional, and half as if he was talking to himself, and not to a person on the phone. Still, he somehow always managed to show up to give her a ride home, even if he had to send one of his personal assistants to pick her up from her apartment.

He was always very courteous and polite, but it was fairly obvious that he liked her. Kagome was a bit flattered, even though the affection was one-sided. He'd become a friend over the short time she'd been working there, and she finally felt as if her social life was branching out again.

"Are you cold? I can turn on the seat-warmers." Kouga offered as they settled into the plush leather seats of his BMW. Kagome thought it was a little strange that Kouga was a partner in the firm and still running errands for the president like an intern, but apparently Kouga had quiet a few employees under him as well; he was just a mobile type of person, in contrast to one who sat at a desk during the day. Kagome envied him a bit.

"No, I'm fine." She smiled at his consideration.

"How was the pipsqueak?" Kouga often referred to Shippo with such names. Kagome thought it was a little cute.

"He was good. We just worked on spelling and math, and he taught me how to play another one of his video games." Kagome recounted the uneventful afternoon. When they'd left, Shippo had been ready for bed and Mrs. Morisoto had stopped her work for the day. The two had been sitting together on the couch, watching TV. Kagome was pleased to see that Shippo's mother seemed to be very maternal and affectionate with her son, even if she was too busy during the day.

They drove in amicable silence for awhile. Kouga was a little chatty sometimes, but maybe he was tired today, and Kagome didn't the lack of conversation was very awkward. She was worn out too, and right now nothing sounded better than to put her feet up, forget her homework, and watch a movie. She'd only been working evenings for a week and already she missed just hanging out with Sango and Miroku.

"Here we are. Do you need any help?" Kouga always asked that; he was such a gentleman when it came to her nearly non-existent injuries. Her apartment was on the second story, so it was a little troublesome getting up the flight of stairs. But what was she supposed to do, ask him to carry her? He looked more than willing and able, but Kagome wasn't about to go that far. "No thanks, I'm fine. See you tomorrow, and thanks for the ride." She gave a little wave and quickly scooted out of the car before he could get out and try to offer any more help. If Miroku or Sango saw, she'd never hear the end of it.

Buyo was waiting for her on the couch when she opened her door and dumped her things on the table by the door. She'd ditched her crutches a couple of days ago, but her leg was still a bit tender, especially after a long day. Scratch that, all of her was rather sore. Dinner was suddenly not that interesting, and her squishy old couch was calling. Kagome gave in and collapsed, narrowly avoiding Buyo, who scrambled out of the way. The remote was within arm's reach, her favorite throw blanket was draped on the back of the couch for her to pull over herself, and her work was finished for the day. Kagome wasn't going to move a muscle for the rest of the night.

--

If Inuyasha had known his older brother would be waiting for him in his apartment, he would've just not gone home that night, or any other night for the rest of his life. As it happened, he came home at the same time he always did, tired and irritable like he always was, and only the unmistakable scent of elitist shithead dog youkai warned him a split second before Sesshoumaru moved out of the shadows.

Inuyasha dodged, fangs bared and claws out, but Sesshoumaru wasn't making any moves against him. He stood in his usual expensive suit and tie, arms crossed and expression dark.

"What do you want?" Inuyasha growled, not dropping his stance. Expensive threads had never stopped his brother from breaking out the poison claws before.

"I want the jewel." Sesshoumaru said simply, but his tone of voice conveyed his seriousness. He and Inuyasha had been on frigidly peaceful terms for a while now, and although Inuyasha was a very stubborn and confrontational person, even he wasn't ready to rock the boat quite yet.

"I don't know where it is, _asshole_. Get out." He glared and stepped aside to clear the doorway. Sesshoumaru ignored the command and remained where he was. "I won't ask again, _hanyou_." His voice was heavy with unspoken threats.

"Good, so stop wasting your time and scram." Part of Inuyasha just wanted to have a full-out brawl with his prick of a half-brother, but the past few months had mellowed him a bit. Now he was more interested in just being left alone.

Sesshoumaru moved so fast that a normal human wouldn't have even been able to catch it. Then Inuyasha was two feet above the ground, pinned to the wall by Sesshoumaru's poison-oozing grip on his neck. He dug his claws into the stronger youkai's forearm, but it did little to help. So he hung there, stubbornly holding onto his remaining pride. He wouldn't die so easily, and apparently his older brother _really _needed this piece of information.

"Stop hiding it," Sesshoumaru growled out. "I have neither the time nor the patience to play your childish games. I have bigger problems to deal with, and you're in the way." It was the most information Sesshoumaru had volunteered to Inuyasha in at least a year. Inuyasha was a little surprised.

"You can sense that thing just as easy as I can. You know I don't have it. Even if I did, I wouldn't give it to a bastard like you." Inuyasha sneered. But he spoke the truth; both youkai knew the feel of the jewel well, and it wasn't anywhere near.

"That miko told you something before she died. You might not have the jewel, but you know where it is." How Sesshoumaru had come across this information was anyone's guess, but it was obvious by Inuyasha's reaction that it was the truth. Sort of.

"I don't know where it is," He was gasping a little now as Sesshoumaru's grasp tightened. "She told me she was sending it somewhere, and I had to look for it. She didn't tell me where." He finally admitted.

"And are you searching for it?" The grip hadn't loosened, but it wasn't constricting anymore either.

"No. I don't want any part of your fucking _hunt_." Inuyasha spat out bitterly.

Sesshoumaru stared hard at him for a long time before finally releasing him to land roughly on the floor, barely staying on his feet. As much as he hated to admit it, it was possible that Inuyasha had an edge over everyone in finding the jewel. He had been very closely bonded with the late miko; perhaps she'd left a hint in her words that only he would recognize. Maybe the bond still lay with the jewel, and would eventually cause Inuyasha to be drawn back to it, or vice versa, fulfilling the will of its former mistress.

"Find it. I'll return in a month, and if you don't have it, I'll kill you." It wasn't an idle threat.

* * *

AN: So tell me, would you prefer longer chapters, and me post like once a week? Or do you like the shorter ones that are coming out faster? I mean, I'm writing this regularly, so I just make a chapter break at my earliest convenience.

As always, please review. I could use a few comments about now, I'm kind of bummed.


	6. Chapter 6

Sorry for the delay. I've been writing this whole time, but I was just dragging my feet about putting a chapter up. I wanted to make it a little longer. Hope it's worth the wait!

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha and Co.

* * *

Inuyasha couldn't sleep. He'd been awake for hours actually, just lying in bed, staring up at his cracked ceiling. He wasn't too afraid of his brother; Sesshoumaru often threatened to kill him, and occasionally made actual attempts as well. But his comments had roused memories of Kikyo's death that Inuyasha had tried to bury.

He had hoped that the jewel would just sort of disappear, Naraku would retire to whatever circle of hell he'd crawled out of, and he could just start again somewhere else. But apparently Kikyo's cursed jewel wasn't going to be ignored. It was against everything he'd planned on, but he couldn't let it fall into the wrong hands, whether they were Naraku's, Sesshoumaru's, or someone else's entirely.

But how the hell was he supposed to find it? Just like any other youkai, he could sense when it was near, but he had no way of hunting for it. If he didn't happen to stumble on it, it was just as lost to him as it was to anyone else. But Kikyo had told him that, hadn't she? She'd said he'd have to find it again.

Inuyasha turned over, and his thoughts strayed to Kagome, the girl he'd finally confronted in the park today. Horrible bitch. He'd gotten such a strange feeling from her too, when she'd touched him. He knew a miko's purifying power when he felt it, but hers was too weak to cause much harm.

But when she'd made contact he could've sworn it was Kikyo standing right there instead. Not just the appearance, but the _feel_. It felt like Kikyo was with him again, for just that short moment. The crash he'd experienced when he'd broken contact and it turned out to be that weird staring girl had nearly ripped him a new hole in his heart. He'd covered it by acting pissed, as always.

Maybe there was something to that though. If he saw Kikyo then, maybe Kagome had a connection to her. He would definitely find out tomorrow when she came over to Kaede's. Hopefully the old hag wouldn't have him doing something far away; he wanted to hear everything they said.

--

Kagome was extremely hesitant to tell Sango about the strange glowing thing her hands had been doing lately. Sango was her best friend, and she'd try hard to understand, but these days Kagome felt like she had fallen apart and was _just _now finished gluing all of her pieces back together. Sango had cared and worried and protected the whole time, and it would start all over again if she declared a new piece of her had broken off. It was almost like if Sango didn't know, there wasn't anything wrong.

They were eating a late breakfast together that morning. Sango didn't have to go into work until noon that day, so while Miroku was at school, they sat on the stoop outside of their apartments and quietly ate their eggs and toast. Occasionally they made idle talk, but neither was really a morning person, and they were close enough that speaking wasn't always necessary to tell what the other was thinking.

"You doing okay?" Sango cast Kagome a sidelong glance. Her friend was a pretty bad actor, but it was difficult to tell what the problem was, only that she was a bit 'off.'

"Hmm?" Kagome blinked. "Sorry, just spaced out there for a sec. Yeah, I'm fine."

"What are you going to do today?" Sango decided to let it go.

"Just go to the park, I guess. I don't have much homework to do, so maybe I'll take a book too." Kagome had told Sango about her daily trips to the park, so it was easy to just leave out the part about having tea with an old lady instead.

"Going to see that hot day laborer again?" Inuyasha had become a bit of a running joke between the two of them.

"Oh yeah. We're eloping today." Kagome replied sarcastically. She'd forgotten about him for a short time, but now his scowling image was right back in her head. What a disagreeable person. She hoped that he'd fall of the roof today and have to go home, just so he wouldn't bother her. The feeling she got around him unsettled her.

"Miroku would be crushed. I'll try to let him down easy tonight." The two girls rolled their eyes. "Do you get off at eight again tonight?"

"No, the Morisotos have a dinner party tonight, so I'm playing babysitter till midnight."

"Darn, I was hoping we could go get dinner tonight. Maybe celebrate our Kagome rejoining the employed population?" Sango smiled.

"I have weekends off, so we should just go tomorrow." Kagome said around her mouthful of toast. She shifted a bit, trying to get a better position on the cold concrete that was numbing her butt.

"Alright, I'll call you. It's almost noon, I gotta get dressed and go." Sango stood and picked up her plate and half-empty glass of orange juice.

"See you." Kagome carefully pushed herself up as well. In a little while she'd be heading over to Kaede's. The more she thought about it, the more she realized she was just reluctant to see Inuyasha again, not Kaede. The poor old woman probably really did just want a little company, since she evidently lived alone. She must've actually been pretty desperate for company, if she hired Inuyasha.

"Come in, child." Kaede welcomed her in warmly. Kagome thanked her and stepped inside. The interior of Kaede's small home was sparsely decorated, but comfortable-looking. She had a small sitting room with a television and a low table to sit around. There were no pictures of family members on the walls, so Kagome decided not to ask. Instead a couple of framed prints decorated the simple room.

"Do you like sugar in your tea?" Kaede had gone back to the kitchen.

"No, thank you." Kagome was looking around warily, but a certain rude dog-eared person seemed to be missing. Maybe he'd taken the day off.

"Inuyasha is sometimes late, but he likes my tea, so I'm sure he'll turn up." Kaede had read her mind. "Tell me about yourself, child. How old are you?"

Kagome settled herself at the table. "I'm seventeen."

"So you are a student then?"

"No, I…" Kagome was uncertain how to explain her situation, so she just simplified it a bit. "I'm a student, but I'm doing my schoolwork at home and working instead."

"Ah, that must be interesting. What sort of work do you do?" Kaede came in with the tea and carefully poured them both cups, then sat down herself.

"I'm a personal tutor. I work for a family whose son is a bit gifted." Kagome took a long sip from her warm cup, finally beginning to relax.

"What do your parents do?" It was an inevitable question; most teenage girls still had both of their parents, and she wasn't exactly wearing a sign to tell the contrary.

"Oh, my parents have both passed away." Kagome said a bit too bluntly. "My father died when I was six, and my mother died about three years ago."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Kaede said, and she appeared to genuinely regret not just the question, but Kagome's situation as well. "So you live alone then."

"Yes, but I have a younger brother who lives with a relative out of town. He'll move in with me one of these days." Kagome hurried to reassure her that her plight wasn't so terrible. It had been a few years after all, and although Kagome missed her mother dearly, she'd moved forward in spite of herself. The pain had dulled over time. "What about you? Do you still work?" Kagome decided to switch the topic to Kaede in order to avoid any awkward pitying silences.

"I'm retired, but I was a nurse. I work a few days a week at a clinic near here. I used to be a priestess as well, but I wanted to work with medicine more, so I chose a different path." Kagome could definitely see Kaede in both positions. She seemed very motherly and caring toward people in need.

"When I was little my family owned a shrine. We lived there, and my grandfather took care of it. It was in the family for generations." Kagome reminisced. She had very fond memories of the old shrine. It was the backdrop of most of her childhood.

"So that explains how you know about spiritual energy and power…" Kaede easily made the connection. Kagome thought of changing the subject, but surely confiding a bit in Kaede wouldn't hurt. She wasn't as confident as she had led Kaede and Inuyasha to think, but she had the feeling that the elderly woman wasn't easily fooled anyway.

"Yeah, but I wasn't a shrine maiden or anything. There weren't any monks or mikos. We just kept the place clean and sold charms and souvenirs, mostly." She shrugged.

"Then where did you learn about miko abilities?" Kaede sounded only curious, not prying, or else Kagome would've begun to dig in her heels a bit.

"My grandfather told me a lot of stories when I was growing up. And after my mom died, I worked at another shrine for a while."

Kaede nodded, but didn't reply. Instead the two sipped their tea in comfortable silence. Kagome had never had a grandmother figure in her life, and she wondered if perhaps this was what it was like.

"Where's your fuckin' ladder?" The peace was interrupted by a familiar male voice. Kagome groaned inwardly as Inuyasha entered the room in all of his jeans and stained t-shirt glory. "I need to get up on the roof." He was ignoring her, which was fine.

"Would you like some tea, Inuyasha?" Kaede offered kindly.

"No, I--" Kaede must've shot him a look that only Inuyasha could read, because he cut himself off and, with an exasperated sigh, sat down across from Kagome. He avoided eye contact.

"Inuyasha has been working for me for a little over a month. I'm getting old and I can't keep up with all of the things that need to be fixed. He's been very helpful." Kaede explained to Kagome, who nodded politely. If Kaede noticed the edgy tone the atmosphere had taken, she wasn't letting on. Instead she turned to Inuyasha, who was staring at his tea like a petulant schoolboy and drumming his claws on the tabletop.

"A-are you youkai, Inuyasha?" Kagome decided to be polite at least.

"Hanyou." He answered shortly, not looking up. It was almost as if he was waiting for a negative response. Kagome knew hanyou didn't have the greatest reputation, but Inuyasha didn't really look like an evil guy, just a prick.

"I…like your ears." _I like your ears???_ It was like the words had just walked right out of her mouth without permission. It was true, she did think they were cute, but she didn't want to ego-stroke. He probably had girls tell him that all the time.

Inuyasha made eye contact for that one, one eyebrow arched up high into his shaggy hair. The hell? _His ears?? _That was a new one. The fuzzy appendages in question seemed to acquire a mind of their own as they twitched and ducked flat. He wasn't sure whether to be amused or pleased or embarrassed, so he settled for offended. Putting on his usual fierce scowl, he gave a dark "Keh," and crossed his arms.

This girl was throwing him for a completely loop. He saw and smelled Kagome sitting across from him, but he _felt _Kikyo. It made him angry, even though he knew deep down the girl couldn't possibly be doing it on purpose. She had no idea about his past or about Kikyo. She was just an innocent look-alike, and his brain was for some reason making him think of Kikyo instead. That had to be it.

"Didn't you used to have crutches?" He asked suddenly, as if the thought had just occurred to him. He hadn't noticed yesterday, but come to think of it, she hadn't been using them then either.

"Yeah, but I'm better, so I stopped." Kagome replied, a little surprised at the change of subject. Inuyasha was studying her, not in a mean way, but a calculating way, as if he was assessing her answer and comparing it to whatever he'd been thinking.

"What happened?" An obvious question.

"I got hit by a car a while ago." Even Inuyasha couldn't hide his shocked reaction, and Kaede's mouth dropped right open. "It wasn't bad, really! I just sprained my ankle." A bit of a lie to the obvious question. It wasn't anyone else's fault, but Kagome had grown kind of tired of fielding one hundred and one questions about being hit by a car, and her ankle_had _really been sprained. It had been the least of her injuries, but that didn't matter.

Inuyasha could always smell a lie, and he was pretty sure he was smelling one right now, but even he wasn't mean enough to out her while having a cup of tea with Kaede. Why the hell someone would lie about a sprained ankle was beyond him, but he found he didn't care that much. He stood, figuring his obligatory socializing was over. "So where's the ladder?" He asked again as if the past ten minutes just hadn't taken place.

"Why can't you just jump?" Kagome piped up and Inuyasha rounded on her, looking distinctly irritated. Kaede looked at him as if she was thinking the same thing.

"Because I need to stand on something!" He spluttered. "I'm part youkai, not part acrobat! Do you want me to fix your fucking roof or not?" He turned on Kaede, dark amber eyes demanding an end to this.

"Behind the shed in back. Didn't you leave it there last week?" Kaede finally responded pointedly. Inuyasha didn't bother retorting; they could hear him muttering paint-peeling curses under his breath.

Kagome allowed herself a small smirk. If she had ever said those words to an elderly woman like that, her mother would've washed her mouth out with soap and hung her out by her tongue to dry. Kaede was very forgiving to be putting up with his sort of foul manners.

They chatted for another twenty minutes before Kagome noticed she had to leave in order to get ready for work on time. On the way out Kagome saw Inuyasha, sure enough, standing on the ladder and fixing part of the eves. "Bye!" She called and waved, and she thought she heard a grunt in reply. She almost smiled.

--

Naraku was watching his back, and he hated it. He always had to watch his back when the taiyoukai Sesshoumaru was searching for him. Sesshoumaru was smart; he didn't act unnecessarily. Every move was highly calculated. Sesshoumaru also wasn't susceptible to cheap half-assed attacks and tricks. His strength was no bravado, and when he used it, youkai died, quickly and grotesquely.

For months he'd been trying to expand his territory, claim that jewel, the Shikon no Tama, and dodge Sesshoumaru's advances, all at the same time. It didn't work. Sesshoumaru had employed scores of monks and a few priestesses as well to eliminate Naraku's countless minions and destroy whatever power he'd established as well.

And then his opportunity had arrived. He'd known for some time that the miko Kikyo kept the jewel; she was its guardian. And her partner and love interest was Sesshoumaru's younger sibling, the headstrong hanyou, Inuyasha. Kikyo was wise and brave, and would've been difficult to defeat. But Inuyasha, while nearly as strong as his brother, was an idiot. He fell for every trap he ever came across, and only the sheer strength of his youkai abilities kept him from serious injury or death.

It had been relatively easy to lure the two away from safety, then turn the tables and begin chasing them instead. Kikyo had probably known better, but she would've done anything for Inuyasha. He assumed when killed her that the Shikon no Tama had disappeared with her.

It was a stupid assumption. Only a month later he learned that she'd done something with it. He was biding his time, laying low to avoid catching more attention. He needed to assemble more youkai before making another attack. And he was searching for the jewel. Or, more accurately, he was searching for Inuyasha. The bastard hanyou was the only one who had any inkling as to where it might be.

Youkai were considerably less populous than regular humans, but they had their own unspoken hierarchy of sorts. They were peaceful for the most part, and usually policed themselves instead of making humans get involved. This was the reason Naraku's main worry was Sesshoumaru, and not the laughable human government. Higher youkai were responsible for keeping other youkai in line, instead of the humans with their ridiculous guns.

But there was a lot of power to be attained amongst the youkai. If Naraku played his cards right, and he always did, he could work his way up the ranks. There were business ventures to be made, alliances to be formed, and these days money motivated youkai just as much as it motivated the humans. It was a fair playing field for the two species.

But Naraku had never gotten anywhere by playing fair. He growled darkly and sipped his glass of wine. It was an unfortunate day when he was underground, both figuratively and literally, because a certain inu-youkai had gotten wise. He wasn't sure who had leaked the information that he was starting his search for the jewel again, or even if he'd just been seen and reported.

He didn't have any more time to waste. Naraku reached for his trench coat at the same time as he was getting one of his contacts on speed dial. "Bankotsu. Charter a plane. We're moving."

--

It was the same dream Kagome had had a thousand times in the past three months. In it, she was walking in the rain along the canal, just as she had been that night. By now even in the dream she could sense it was a dream, she'd had it so often. That horny coworker was yelling at her through his window, but she couldn't understand what it was.

Next came the screech of tires and sickening crunch of metal as the second car swerved around a corner she couldn't see and hit her coworker's car. She knew after that she would be struck from behind; it hurt every time, but she couldn't stop it. And sure enough, there was the vicious force slamming against her back, spinning her partway around.

She didn't remember if it had happened in real life, but sometimes in her dreams she made brief eye contact with the guy in the car before being engulfed in the familiar darkness. It was apparently happening in this dream as well. But what she didn't expect were the pair of blood-red eyes and malicious grin that faced her instead.

Suddenly the crash site disappeared and she was in a grass field, running for her life from whatever it was that had been behind the wheel. She could hear its heavy footsteps, and she tried to run faster, but it felt like she was running through mud. She tried to scream, but only air came out.

Just as she felt something cold and slimy catch her by the shoulder, everything fell away, and she was back at the crash, watching the car that hit her fall over the edge of the embankment. Sometimes this happened too, where she was a helpless observer.

"Yours," A voice from behind her caught her attention. A young woman was there, dressed in the traditional white and red of a miko. She was holding out a small glass ball. It looked almost like a marble. Kagome was debating on whether it was a good idea to accept it, when the woman thrust it at her, plunging her fist into Kagome's gut. Kagome coughed and clutched at her stomach, but there was no wound, and no glass ball.

"Yours," The woman repeated. "You protect the jewel now. I can't."

Kagome looked down; her hands were glowing again. When she looked back up, the woman was gone, and she was back in the role of the pedestrian casualty, being pushed down backwards by the car in its brief plunge. The same red eyes were watching her with what looked like sick delight. She opened her mouth to try to scream…

…And awoke. She was sprawled out on the cushy leather chair in Shippo's game room. A quick look at her watch revealed the time to be 11:36. Shippo was in bed, and whatever movie she'd been watching had ended while she was dozing; the dvd had returned to its menu, and the same thirty-second sound bite was repeating. She didn't even notice Kouga standing there until he cleared her throat.

Kagome jumped nearly a foot, barely restraining a scream. After a few moments of clutching her chest and trying to slow her pounding heart, she eyed him with mild irritation. From the looks of it, he'd just walked in; he was still wearing his coat and his briefcase was in his right hand. And he was looking at her with that strange expression again. She looked down and to her dismay found her hands were glowing in real life too. Belatedly she tried to pull her sleeves further down and stuffed her hands under her arms.

"Ah, look, I wasn't going to say anything before, but…" Kouga paused and scratched his head awkwardly, as if trying to find the right words. Kagome groaned inwardly. She was going to get fired, she knew it. Probably sent to an institution for weird paranormal people as well.

"Are you sure you have that thing under control? Most youkai aren't going to bother you, but some of them would really like that kind of power. If you don't keep it under control, you'll just attract them." Kouga was talking, but she wasn't understanding.

"What? Keep what under control?" She frowned in confusion.

"The jewel." Kouga answered, as if it were obvious. But that one word set off echoes in her mind. The woman in her dream had given her a jewel, and now Kouga was talking about it as if she should know. What the _hell _was this jewel??

"Oh. Yeah. Don't worry, it's fine." Kagome smiled her most confident liar smile. She didn't know what it was, but she got the feeling that she was sitting on something very important, and it would be a good thing to keep her cards to herself for now.

"So I suppose being 'hit by a car' was really a youkai attack?" Kouga guessed, sounding sympathetic. Kagome face-faulted. Had Kouga been chilling out in her dream with her the whole time, and she just hadn't noticed?

"N-no, I really was hit by a car. Can you take me home soon?" Kagome was struggling to keep up her façade of knowing what on earth Kouga was talking about.

"Yeah, no problem. Shippo's parents are upstairs. Let me just bring the car around." He flashed her his usual charming grin, but this time it didn't relax her. Now she only felt more unsettled. Apparently he'd known about her and this 'jewel' for a while now, while she'd been completely in the dark.

Kouga tried to make light conversation in the car, probably to smooth things over, but Kagome just couldn't manage to join in. Her brain was racing, playing a reckless game of connect-the-dots, except there were dots missing, and she had no idea where to look.

After a distracted goodbye to Kouga, Kagome made her way up to her apartment. She flipped on her lights and dropped her bags by the door. She didn't know how she was going to get to sleep tonight, but right now her goal was a hot shower and warm pajamas to curl up in.

The hot water beating down on her did wonders for Kagome's mood. The more she thought about it while soaping up her skin and hair, the more she suspected it might have just been the weirdest of all coincidences. Sure, it was highly unlikely that Kouga would know what she was dreaming about. But she'd been disoriented and frightened out of her wits when she had awakened. Perhaps she'd misunderstood what he'd said. Or maybe Kouga was just off his rocker instead.

Satisfied and considerably less distressed, Kagome stepped out and dried herself off. Now that she was calmer, a late night movie or a book seemed like a nice way to wind down before going to sleep. Humming to herself, she pulled on her sweats and a t-shirt.

Steam escaped as she opened the bathroom door, letting the cool air rush at her. In the back of her mind she wondered where Buyo was. Normally he greeted her at the door when she came home, and followed her everywhere. "Buyo?" She looked around, but her fat house cat was nowhere to be seen. "Buyo!" She padded back into the living room to search for him.

Kagome only barely registered movement out of the corner of her eye when the youkai was on top of her, pushing her roughly to the floor.

* * *

Hmmm. Bit of a cliffie there.

AN: It's not my intention to make this an epic-like fic, with lots of detail of Naraku's sway over politics and power, etc. I'll write some of his dastardly actions, and cover everything else pretty vaguely, so you all can use your imaginations.

Along that line of thinking, not everyone's mentioned is going to have a huge main role. Some of them are just going to have to be side characters. Shippo and Rin will very likely be a couple of these side characters, but I'm trying really hard to pull Sango and Miroku into the action. They deserve it.

As always, please review! The input honestly helps!


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